


come home to me

by cecilia095



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: 5 Times, Canon Compliant, Episode: s16e06 Glasgowman's Wrath, Episode: s22e07 Hunt Trap Rape and Release, Established Relationship, F/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-16 00:08:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29567265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cecilia095/pseuds/cecilia095
Summary: ...five times Carisi and Rollins tried to hide their relationship, and the one time they didn't.
Relationships: Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr./Amanda Rollins
Comments: 19
Kudos: 83





	come home to me

**Author's Note:**

> I've been itching to write a 'five times' fic for these two for awhile, and then last night's episode really pushed me to. I wrote this all in one sitting after getting the idea for the five segments in the shower and then getting _really_ excited about it, so if some details/plot points are inaccurate or lazily edited... let's pretend they're not. :)
> 
> (Yeah, anyone else think about f*cking SVU instead of normal things in the shower? Just me?)
> 
> Title comes from 'Come Home To Me' by LÉON.

_the carisi/rollins 'five times' fic_

─────────

**_1\. 10 PM in le club (post-'hunt, trap, rape and release')_ **

"Someone wanna loop me in? I had to find out through a _text_ that Moldovan pulled a gun on you!" He's walking faster than his words are coming out, joining Fin and Kat and Amanda at the now-emptied-out bar. It's just the three of them and the bartender, already on their first round without him.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Amanda retorts, holding her hands up in surrender. "He didn't do anything."

"Yeah, well he could've, Rollins," Sonny counters, and then he pauses and holds a finger up to the bartender, putting down the jacket that's draped over his forearm onto the empty chair next to Rollins. "One of what they're all havin', please."

Amanda shoots her sergeant a look that's screaming _Back me up, please_ , but Fin just shrugs and takes a long sip of his whiskey, Kat following and doing the same.

"Well he didn't," Amanda finishes once the bartender slides a whiskey neat over to Sonny and he finally stops pacing the bar floor to have a seat. "Hey... c'mon, I'm okay, I handled it," she whispers so only he can hear it, Fin and Kat now wrapped up in their own conversation.

"What did say when he threatened you?" He's still pressing, because that's just who Carisi is — he presses, and he pushes, and he cares with a hell of a lot more intensity than most people Amanda Rollins has ever met.

She sets down the drink she was just about to take a sip from and takes a shaky breath. "He told me to drive him home, that I could talk to him about — about my girls," she swallows thickly, watching his eyes widen.

He slams his palm down onto the wooden bar top, mumbling a curse under his breath. 

"Hey, take it easy, Counsellor," Fin jokes. "You wanna be more involved? Next time we'll call 'ya to stand by the door with your briefcase in case another crazy rapist needs a smackin'."

Kat laughs at that, because it's easier to gang up on the outsider than to take a few seconds and figure out why he's wound up so tight about this. 

"A smackin'?" Sonny asks, and Amanda just rolls her eyes. "Wait, you hit the guy Rollins?" He looks kind of impressed, and also kind of concerned at the same time.

"'Hit' is an understatement, Counsellor," Kat confirms proudly. "Rollins decked him — good."

"Good, but he still coulda hurt 'ya, he had a gun."

"So did I, Dominick," Amanda says in frustration through gritted teeth, her eyes silently begging Sonny to just let this go and attempt to enjoy a few post-work drinks with his old squad. 

"Doesn't matter," he argues, and he feels Amanda's elbow nudge him in his side. He's clearly _not_ trying to enjoy himself at all. "Hey, I'm sorry," he whispers, "but I was worried sick about 'ya, I drove here as soon as Fin called me, sped like a maniac. Amanda, if somethin' happened to you..."

"You didn't need to do that," she says sternly. "I'm fine."

"I don't care how ' _fine_ ' you are, I still needed 'ta be here."

Without a word, she lets her left hand slip underneath the bar top and finds his knee, gently placing it down. He eyes her, and then looks to make sure Fin and Kat are occupied before he places his palm over her hand and gives it a squeeze.

She uses her free hand to take a sip of her drink and she knows exactly why he had to be here — Bucci, and the hostage situation, and how shaken up they both were about it after. The words were never officially said, but that night changed the course of their relationship forever; whatever their relationship was back then, and what it is now. That day tore him up a lot more than he expected it to; than she expected it to.

"Hey, another round?" Kat asks after a few minutes of quiet chatter, Amanda and Kat begging Fin to spill some details about how the wedding planning is going, Fin telling them ' _Not a chance_ '.

Fin stands up with a hand in his pocket and shakes his head. "Speaking of wedding planning, I've got a fiancé at home who I forgot to let know I was stayin' for drinks after we caught the bastard. I better go."

"That's a _long_ arrest, Sergeant," Kat teases, and then she bids Fin goodnight. "You two? One more drink? It's on me."

"I-I should get home to my girls," Amanda says earnestly, and Kat understands. 

"I'll drive 'ya," Sonny says without any hesitation, and Kat shoots a knowing glance between the two of them, offering to drive Amanda home instead because she's on her way and had way less to drink than her. Realistically, she also lives way closer to Kat than she does Carisi.

Amanda tugs down on her lip, remembering now that she rode here with Fin and that she definitely doesn't have her own way home. It's like instinctually, Fin knew she'd manage once Carisi showed up to Le Club. 

"I uh — I promised Jesse I'd come by and watch her dance for the talent show," Sonny quickly lies, thinking fast. Jesse's not even in the talent show this year, and Amanda tries to stifle a laugh.

"Jesse? Your five-year-old? She still up at...", Kat pauses, lifting her watch into view and squinting. "10:20 on a school night?"

Sonny snickers. "You always this sharp, detective?"

"Sometimes," Kat retorts, reaching over the bar top and retrieving her card back from the bartender. "'Night, you two. Tell Jesse I said hello."

"Will do," Amanda says quickly, grabbing her jacket off of the chair, her phone off of the bar top, and waiting for Sonny to do the same. "I-I could've taken a cab," she whispers after Kat leaves, and he just laughs at her. "What?"

"We sleep in the same bed, most nights," he says with a huff, reminding her of the few nights he doesn't stay over — the nights where she and the girls feel off without him there, really. "Wanna see if you can beat me back to your apartment or somethin'?"

"No, I just — Kat definitely knows," Amanda tells him, paranoia in her voice. Is she ashamed of him? Absolutely not. Is she ready to disclose to the department that she's sleeping with their A.D.A.? Not quite. 

"No way. It's nothin' she's never seen before. How many rides have I given you home?"

"Too many. C'mon, let's go. I miss the girls."

"Me too."

He slips his hands in to hers, grabbing his car keys from the pocket of his coat with his opposite hand and leading her out the bar.

─────────

_**2\. sharing a bed** _

He drifted off when she got up to take a shower, the crappy Bravo show they'd been watching together still playing faintly in the background.

"You really don't have to sleep out here, Dominick."

He's restless in his place on the couch, lifting his neck up slightly from its place on the top of the cushion to crack it. Amanda winces at the sound, making a comment about how clearly uncomfortable this crappy old couch is.

"I got it at a yard sale," she argues, waving him over to her. "C'mon, you're allowed to sleep in my bed."

"Look, I know, but I — The girls don't know about us yet, and until they do, I'm just Uncle Sonny, stayin' over on the couch. I'm fine."

" _The girls_ ," she starts, "are worn out from their day with the sitter. She took 'em to the park, twice. C'mon, Dominick, come to bed with me, _please_."

So she wins the argument, because giving in to Amanda is easy. She's hungry? He's there in twenty with leftover homemade lasagna and dessert. She's had a bad day at the precinct? Shitty reality TV marathons on her couch for six hours, it is. Tough day with the girls? He'll change Billie's diaper, read Jesse two bedtime stories, have both of them bathed and in bed by eight. Look, he's not going to make her beg, or anything.

She slips out of her robe, nothing but a black tank top and mismatched striped shorts underneath. Sonny sits on the edge of the bed and wiggles out of his jeans — yes, he was about to sleep on the couch, in _jeans_ — and grabs a pair of sweatpants from the drawer she cleared out for him in her dresser. He pulls his hoodie over his head, leaving his white t-shirt on before climbing underneath the covers.

"I'm not rushin' you, but one day we'll have to tell 'em."

"I know that, and I will. We will. I just — My girls have been through so much, and they're still so little. I want to hold off for a little longer before we have the talk about Momma's boyfriend slash their uncle."

"You don't have 'ta explain it 'ta me, I know. I'll still be here for 'em, no matter what."

Amanda slides into bed next to him, her hair falling easily onto his pillow despite having her own. She always ends up like that, the few times they've been lucky enough to share a bed for the night; her body sprawled out more on his side than her own, an arm effortlessly draped over his sleeping form. 

"Isn't this better than that damn couch?"

"If I say I kind of like the couch, what'll you say?"

"I'll say... you're a pain in my ass." She stretches her body up slightly to plant a soft kiss on the side of his mouth. "'Night, Dominick."

They fall asleep pretty fast, until they're up in a wink. Two little footsteps at the end of the bed and a gentle, "Momma?" is enough to rattle Amanda out of her sleep, Sonny following close behind, waking up just as fast.

Instinctually, Amanda waves Jesse over to the bed. It's a phase she's going through lately; waking up at two, three in the morning and coming into Amanda's room to cuddle. Sometimes it's a nightmare, and sometimes she just needs to be close to her Momma. Amanda never says no to more time with her firstborn. Without realizing she just sleepily invited her five-year-old into bed with her _and_ Sonny, she reacts to Jesse's gasp.

"What is it, ba— _Oh_ , oh my God."

"Hey, Jess." His voice is raspy and low as he sits up, prepared to answer what he's sure will be many questions from his Goddaughter about why the hell he's in her Momma's bed. He's a lot calmer about the situation than Amanda, as usual. "What's the matter?"

"Had a bad dream, 'bout some scary monsters," she says easily, rubbing the sleep from her tired eyes. "Uncle Sonny, did the couch break?"

He looks to Amanda, both of them trying hard to hold back a laugh. It's not the interrogation they expected from Jesse Rollins, future A.D.A. That girl has always got a counterargument up her little sleeves.

"Um, yeah, you know what? It actually did. It was squeakin', and my back was really hurtin', so Momma's lettin' me crash in here for the night. Kind of like... a sleepover."

"Ooh!" Jesse climbs up onto the bed, her purple blanket and her stuffed elephant in tow, plopping herself in between Sonny and her mom. "I love sleepovers!"

"Oh, yeah? Even when your Momma _snores_ durin' em?" Sonny teases, ignoring Amanda's half-annoyed glance. "C'mon, let's show those monsters who's boss, huh?"

Less than ten minutes after chatting their ears off about why the monsters _used_ to scare her, but now they live under Billie's bed, and soon Billie will be a big girl like her and learn how to fight them off, too... Jesse's passed out in between the two of them, an arm draped across both of them, her long blonde hair messily brushing up against Sonny's pillow.

"Close one," he whispers after he's triple-checked that Jesse is asleep.

"You're a lucky man, Dominick Carisi."

"Yeah," he nods, his voice even lower than before. "I am."

─────────

_**3\. lunchtime at one hogan place**_

"Always good 'ta see an old friend," Sonny says, closing the case file he'd been reviewing to give Rafael Barba his full attention. It isn't often the former A.D.A. makes a visit over to his old stomping grounds, at least not without a motive.

"Likewise. Nice Pepto Bismol you got there; really brings together the rest of your desk decor, Counsellor."

Sonny wordlessly and self-consciously grabs the pink medicine bottle off of the top of his desk and shoves it in the first drawer he can rig open, trying not to get flushed at the call-out.

"I got a job opportunity here, in the city," Rafael starts, folding his hands in his lap and clearing his throat. He's got Sonny's attention, the Junior A.D.A. all-ears as he listens to his former mentor. "Executive A.D.A., Bronx Sex Crimes."

Sonny bites his cheek at the mention of the Bronx, silently wondering if Liv or anyone else caught Rafael up on the events that occurred when they teamed up with Barek's squad back in February. He tries not to show bitterness in his face about it; about Amanda getting threatened with a weapon because of the team-up.

"I said no," Rafael finishes with a stern shake of the head. "Things are different, now. I — I think I'm finally ready to live a life away from all of this, Carisi."

"You retirin' somewhere warm too?" 

"Not sure, but I just came here to say... make sure you don't get too caught up."

Sonny furrows his brows, waiting for clarification.

"In this world, this job... You're a good A.D.A., Carisi, but that's not all you have to be good at."

"You know, you're not the only one who thinks I don't have a life. My ma's on my case daily."

"Good. Anyone else?"

"I'm sorry?"

Rafael laughs bitterly. "You're still flying solo, Counsellor?"

"W-Who said anything about that?"

"I may not have your detective skills, but I'm pretty sure those pictures," Rafael nods toward the frames with pictures in them that he can't see from his angle, "are not of your _Ma_ ," he finishes, mocking Carisi's accent.

He shyly takes the frame, the one holding the picture of Amanda and a baby Jesse on the Central Park Carousel he took years ago, and folds the stand in, sliding it toward him, face-down.

"Oh, we're playing that game? Is she not a looker? It's fine, I won't judge — too much."

"She's... fine. Great, actually. For awhile, I had no idea what we were, but we're good. 'S all that matters, 'ya know?"

"I don't, because I'm a single man who dedicated my entire life to this hell hole," he gestures at the room they're in, at Carisi's dim-light office. "But good for you. Long as you two are happy. I mean it."

Sonny bites the inside of his cheek, nodding with little confidence.

"Look, I'm gonna get going. I have dinner plans with Liv tonight. It was good to see you, and keep in touch. You have my number. We'll do a couple of beers sometime."

"I do, and we will." Sonny scoots out of his chair to stand up at the same time as Rafael does, watching the former A.D.A. slip on his coat and grab his belongings off of his desk.

Before he can walk him out, there are two knocks at the door — _her_ knocks; one long one, one shorter one to let him know she's coming in. "Since you're too busy for me..." she starts, a hint of seduction in her voice that she saves for afternoons alone in his office like this. Her words start trailing off the second she notices his company. "Oh. Oh my God. Barba?" 

"Ohhhhh..." Rafael laughs, shaking his head. "So _this_ is what you were talking about before? You could've told me, I'm a great confidant."

Sonny's red in the face, looking back and forth between Amanda and then Rafael. Amanda's obviously confused, but Rafael's still laughing at the scene in front of him.

"If I knew you we're poppin' in, I would've brought another sandwich," she says casually, lifting the plastic deli bag between her index finger and her middle finger, spinning it around.

"No need," Rafael waves her off, and then pivots toward the door, shooting a glance over at Sonny. "Have a good lunch, you two," he winks.

─────────

_**4\. a stakeout  
** _

It's not often she gets to work a case one-on-one with her Captain anymore. It's usually Fin, or Kat she's sent out with, but Fin's on vacation with his wife-to-be for four more days and Kat's already clocked enough OT for the week, so here they are.

They're somewhere in Brooklyn, staking out the house of a potential trafficker they were tipped off about. It's too soon to make a move, or to let the guy know they're onto him, but it doesn't hurt to look for a reason to barge in.

Liv sighs behind her spot in the driver's seat, running a hand over her forehead in frustration. "It's getting late," she says. "Why don't we pick up where we left off tomorrow? There's been no suspicious activity in there, and we could be wasting our time."

"It's only nine," Amanda argues. "This son of a bitch works late."

"Yeah, well we don't have to. We can regroup tomorrow, get some UC's involved if we need to. Don't you need to relieve Sienna?"

Sienna's been Amanda's girls' nanny for the last two years, and Liv knows more than anyone how overworked their sitters have been lately. They're understaffed, overworked, and the cases just keep piling on. Their drowning, really.

Amanda shakes her head. "They're — They're home with Carisi," she says quickly.

Liv raises a brow curiously, her lips pressed together. After a second, she asks, "Carisi?", like she's not sure she heard her detective correctly. 

Amanda catches herself, seconds too late. "Um, yeah, he's — he's watchin' the girls."

"Watching, or staying the night?" Liv asks teasingly, and it's a side of her Captain Amanda wasn't prepared for, especially on an off-hours stakeout in Brooklyn.

"What?"

"Amanda, Carisi's a wonderful man, and if — if he makes you happy..." Liv starts.

"He makes _the girls_ happy, yes," Amanda interrupts, "he's their Godfather."

Liv rests her arm comfortingly on her detective's forearm. "Look, I'm not here to press you, but I've noticed a change in you Amanda — a good one."

"Really? I feel crankier. The coffee place we usually go to has been sucking lately, don't'cha think?"

"It's more bitter than usual, yes, but —" Liv stops to laugh. "You know, all of these years later, you're more than my subordinate, Amanda. You're my friend, and if my friend — _two of my friends_ — are happy, who am I to debate that?"

Amanda looks down at her hands, absentmindedly picking her cuticles to avoid looking at her Captain. 

"You wouldn't make me fill out disclosure papers?"

"I didn't say _that_..."

"Hypothetically," Amanda adds nervously. "I will. We will. I just... it's so _new_ , we barely know what it is."

Liv laughs almost nostalgically, says, "Yeah, I've been there."

"He is," Amanda says after what feels like a long while of silence, of just staring out the window waiting for something to happen with their suspect, waiting for something to distract them from... this conversation. "A wonderful man."

It feels good to finally say it out loud, to someone. 

─────────

**_5\. glasgowman's wrath, part ii (2021)_ **

He's not officially on the case, because he's not NYPD. Liv called him in on a special favor, and he obviously couldn't say no to her.

Nick Amaro looks, for the most part, the same. He's got a few stray grays in the beard he must've grown in California, a few more lines by his eyes, but nothing's really changed for him. He's still overtly attractive, still smug-as-ever.

They're all in Liv's office, the blinds drawn, the door locked. The case files from 2014 are messily sprawled out on the desk, because they don't even know where to start. Mia Harris and Perry Gilbert have, unsurprisingly, teamed up once again to torment a hostage. All they know is they met her at college. Held her in a basement for two days; stabbed her, sexually assaulted her, and even cut out pieces of her scalp with a scissor they stole from Perry's mom's kitchen set. It's even more gruesome than stabbing the little sister, this time.

Everyone gets Kat all caught up on the history of the case, and then they hone in and work out a motive, and a way to get the girls, now able to be tried as legal adults, to confess.

"Rollins and I were the one who took the initial statements," Amaro states. "We can figure out how to get in their heads again."

" _We_ can't do anything together because you're not officially part of this investigation," Amanda chimes in, shooting Nick a glance. It's the first time they've looked at each other this entire hour they've all been holed in the Captain's office together.

Nick bites his lip and looks down at his lap. "Ahh, I see how it is. Good to see you too, Rollins."

"I didn't mean it like that," she retorts, scared at how easily they fall into their old banter. That's how it was between them; a few intense comments, some disagreements, and some wildly good sex. When he left, she didn't even have time to long for him because she found out about her pregnancy weeks later. Nick Amaro was someone she got over as quickly (if not, quicker) than anyone else she'd ever... sort of let in. She didn't let herself miss him for a second.

"She's not wrong, but we _do_ need your knowledge of this case to help us find out why the hell these girls have teamed up again. How Perry Gilbert managed to get out of Creedmor is beyond me, but she did."

"And we need to understand if this can be tried as a psych case again, right Cap't?" Amanda queries.

"Right."

Liv assigns Fin and Kat to the scene, to talk to the victim at the hospital and get her side. She's just about conscious after a life-saving surgery from the stab wounds.

"Go, now," she orders when she gets the text about the girl being alert, and her Sergeant and Junior Detective are on their way. "And you two," she adds when Fin and Kat leave her office, "stay in here, and stay out of trouble."

It's all of a sudden reminiscent of old days in the squad room; days when Sergeant Benson interrupted their squabbles with the same look on her face.

"Yes, Mom," Amanda teases, saluting her Captain before she excuses herself from the room.

"I'll check Perry's social media, you wanna take Mia's?" He wastes no time, right to work. She wants to ask him how he so easily up-and-left California and flew into the city to do Liv this favor. However he did it, it'll help. They are short-staffed, and another set of eyes on this case can't hurt, especially ones that already know the perpetrators. 

Amanda nods and wordlessly opens her laptop, taking a breath as she begins to search for all traces of Mia Harris on social media.

"So... how're the kids?" she asks after a few quiet minutes of scrolling.

"I should ask you the same, huh? I saw the pictures on your Facebook, they're — they're adorable, Rollins. And they don't have their dad's genes, clearly."

Typical Amaro, right to the investigative work. She knew he'd press her, but not this quickly. He smirks at her eye roll. 

He goes back to his research when she ignores him, keeping Perry Gilbert's very questionable Facebook profile up as he jots down a few notes to relay back to Liv.

Her phone buzzes, the screen lighting up in between the two of their laptops. 

It's just a text, she'll check it later, but she watches the way Amaro's eyes widen when he sees the picture flash on her lock screen.

It's Sonny and the girls in their winter gear, taken in-between sledding in Central Park during one of the snowstorms this past February. The girls' cheeks are rosy-red, bundled up in their snowsuits, each of them on either side of Sonny's hip. It's one of her favorites; her man, and her girls. His girls. _Their girls_ , really. Carisi's the very best — and only — father-figure Billie and Jesse have ever known, and it works for them. Their little family, even if they had to make it themselves, it works.

"I mean, I know I've been out of the game for a long time, but no detective work could've ever prepared me for _that_. Whoa."

Her face feels hot, even behind her laptop screen. She's trying not to look at him. "Don't you have a case to work, _not_ -Detective?"

"Look," Nick continues, holding a hand up in defeat, leaning back in his chair. "I'm just surprised. You two seemed a little... at odds anytime I worked with you both. Remember that time he brought you a cannoli and you threw it out right in front of him?"

"I was on a juice cleanse that week, bigger bitch than usual," she explains. "I was also sleeping with _you_ , in case you forgot."

"How could I?" he snickers, remembering all of the long nights they spent holed up together in Amanda's apartment, just screwing each other and nothing else. "He your husband? You guys married?"

She hides her left hand under her thigh and shakes her head. "Not — not yet," she blurts out, not sure why she chose that answer.

"That's fine; it's just a piece of paper anyway. What the hell do _I_ know about marriage, right?"

"Neither of us ever knew much," she retorts, referring to she and Amaro and whatever the hell they were all those years ago, still ignoring his gaze.

"He's an A.D.A. now, I hear. A damn good one too, from what Liv tells me. Good for you, Rollins."

Something in her tells her it's easier to just let Nick Amaro think Carisi fathered both of the girls and that there was a wedding to look forward to, someday. Easier than taking him through the Declan one-night-stand, the Al saga, and the rest of the messiness in between. It also makes her seem a little less dysfunctional, and for some reason, she doesn't mind Amaro thinking she and Carisi have been together since he left the unit.

"Guess I'll have to congratulate him when I see him, huh?"

─────────

_**6\. ...and the one time they didn't.** _

It's a small ceremony, just their closest friends and family, all the loved ones they'd ever need there.

Sonny's hand finds her (good) knee when Fin and Phoebe kiss after their vows, and she feels her eyes watering at her partner's found happiness. She loves Fin, and she loves how he loves Phoebe. Weddings, she's never loved so much, but having him next to her in the pews, his eyes on her when Fin recites his vows about how Phoebe makes even the worst days better, how he never thought it possible to love someone even more than the day before, it kind of changes the way she feels about them.

When the ceremony ends, they make their way to the reception room, Sonny finding their place cards, happy to find out they're seated with Liv and Barba. Noah and Amanda's girls are at their table too — kid-friendly wedding, despite Fin's protests at first, until he remembered how cute his grandson Jaden would look in a tux as their ring bearer — but they're currently sugared-up on the dance floor, spinning in circles together.

"Mrs. Sonny Carisi?" He holds up the placecard to Amanda with a shrug. 

"That's Fin messin' with me," she says with an eye roll, taking the beige-and-white card meant for her from Sonny between her fingers, walking toward table four.

"Hey, you two," Liv waves from her spot, her arm not-so-discreetly looped through Barba's. Amanda notes she and Sonny are way less obvious, if you ignore her youngest daughter calling him 'Dada'. "You both look great."

Sonny thanks them, and Amanda echos his sentiment. He's got a dark grey suit on, with a tie he asked Jesse for help picking out. It's blue, and it matches Amanda's dress perfectly. If they're trying to look like they're not here together, they're failing miserably.

"So do you two," Sonny says, nodding a knowing look toward Barba. He thinks about the conversation they had in his office last spring a lot, and he wonders if Barba's found his life outside the job in his former Captain. Seeing as Liv leans in to give him what she thinks is a cautiously secret kiss during Fin and Phoebe's first dance, Sonny thinks he's right.

"You two next?" Rafael asks when they're all seated eating their first course. Sonny's cutting Jesse's potatoes into pieces like she likes them, and he's got Billie in his lap hand-feeding her some of his chicken.

"Not far behind you two," Amanda retorts, entertaining Rafael's comments and wiping the food dripping from Billie's chin as she eats half of Sonny's meal at the same time. "Be careful, her dress," she lectures, laying a napkin down in her baby girl's lap. The whole thing feels so... domestic, and it doesn't help when she's got her Captain and her former A.D.A.'s eyes on her little family. The usual easy rhythm they have, the four of them, it feels nerve-wracking when they're being watched. Sonny takes note of her anxiety and tells her to breathe.

"One day," Rafael shrugs. "I'm a busy guy."

"The same busy guy who came to my office to remind me 'ta live life outside of it a little bit?" 

"That sounds about right." 

He initiates a kiss on Olivia's lips, and Amanda throws Sonny a look, like, _If they can do it, so can we_ , and he wordlessly agrees with a nod.

The girls are finished eating, running back off with Noah to wildly dance to a round of songs they play for the kids' pleasure. Amanda and Sonny watch from their seats, Sonny pulling out the camera to get a few shots of the girls having fun.

"You know," he starts, twisting his knees so he's sitting even closer to her, "I think you're kind of having fun."

"Kind of? I cried when they cut the cake, Sonny."

"It was a nice cake."

"Stop making fun of me, you pain in the ass."

"I'm not." He pokes her in the side. "Hey, I want this, one day."

He's gesturing to the dance floor, the wedding, the love in this room. Fin and Phoebe are dancing with his grandson Jaden and the girls and Noah, happily swinging Billie in between both of their arms, the poofy skirt of her pink tulle dress spinning around as she does. Jaden, Jesse and Noah are holding hands, all dancing in a circle together. 

"You'll have it, Dominick," she says, promise in her voice for the first time regarding marriage. She doesn't even sound scared of it, and Sonny peers over her head to check how empty her wine glass is, jokes about her being tipsy. "I'm not."

"Okay." He leans in, sliding both of his hands up her face, pulling her in a little closer. She doesn't look around to see who's looking at them, she just leans in and kisses the top of his lip, taking her time before she pulls back. "Then marry me. One day."

"Fine."

"Fine?"

"Well, this isn't exactly my dream proposal, Dominick."

"You told me you didn't have one of those."

"I might."

"You're a pain in the ass."

"No bigger than you."

They kiss again — longer this time, her hand tugging on his tie to draw him into her. Her lips linger on his and before pulling away, she lightly sucks on the skin on the side of his neck.

His breath is stuck in his throat, and he raises his brows at her in question. "Oh, we're doin' _that_ here now?" he asks, not that he's opposed, just surprised.

"Not _here_. We're getting a room upstairs, and Liv and Barba are takin' the kids for the night. I planned it last week."

"So you told 'em? Like, voluntarily?"

"They're not the only ones. I might've told Nick Amaro you were the girls' father."

"What—"

"See you upstairs in fifteen," she says hastily, patting his leg before getting up. "Go kiss the girls goodnight."

**Author's Note:**

> Before I forget and incase you missed it, the Glasgowman part comes from [this tweet](https://twitter.com/warrenleightTV/status/1360967976523038721) from Warren Leight. Are we getting the Amaro/Rollins/Carisi love triangle I've secretly wanted since 2014???


End file.
